2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This paper presents an instructional approach that integrates artificial intelligence into engineering economy education through structured, multi-perspective dialogue designed to support ethical–economic deliberation. Implemented in a junior-level engineering economy course, the activity engages students in authentic infrastructure decision contexts in which three AI-mediated personas—a licensed professional engineer, an institutional economic steward, and a community advocate—offer distinct and sometimes conflicting perspectives on decisions involving cost, risk, sustainability, and public welfare. Rather than serving as decision authorities, the AI personas function as pedagogical scaffolds that surface competing priorities and prompt critical evaluation.
The intervention design is theoretically grounded in James Rest’s Four-Component Model, with emphasis on ethical sensitivity, judgment, and prioritization that precede action. Ethical reasoning is embedded directly within engineering economic analysis rather than treated as a separate or supplemental consideration. Two campus-based infrastructure cases, in NSPE case form, were developed to reflect contemporary sustainability and resilience challenges, and limited variation in persona framing was introduced to explore how differences in tone and emphasis influence student reasoning across multiple, sequential interactions.
Analysis of student recommendations and reflections indicates that structured exposure to competing perspectives supports deliberative reasoning characterized by explicit trade-off articulation, lifecycle and opportunity cost consideration, and integration of ethical responsibility with economic justification. The paper describes the instructional design, implementation, and assessment approach, and discusses implications for engineering economy education. The findings suggest that AI-mediated dialogue can support ethically informed economic decision-making while preserving student agency and professional judgment.